


Love, with a Healthy Sprinkling of Cat Fur

by light_resolution



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Minor Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Minor Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26518978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/light_resolution/pseuds/light_resolution
Summary: Jongdae's life would be so much easier if his cat would stop disappearing off into god-know-where all the time, if Baekhyun would stop meddling with his love life, and if that one guy in his music theory class would stop being so damn hot.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41
Collections: Shall we Chen? Fictional Fest First Round





	Love, with a Healthy Sprinkling of Cat Fur

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This work was written for SWC Round 2020, prompt #173! 
> 
> To the prompter:
> 
> Thank you so much for your prompt! I had a great time writing and I hope you have an equally great time reading!  
> I do want to apologise a bit- I ended the story a bit differently because I didn't have enough time to write the ending that I originally intended, so there really isn't that many fluffy moments, and I am very sorry about that. I still hope that you enjoy reading this work and it wasn't too far off what you had in mind!
> 
> Lastly, thank you so much to the mods for their hard work and patience! I had a great time writing for this fest!
> 
> And without further ado, let's get into the story!

There’s a giant fluffy _thing_ sticking out of Yixing’s bed. Yixing blinks and rubs his eyes. The thing was still there. Yixing rubs his eyes again. Nope, still there.

Okay, so there was indeed a grey fluffy tail looking thing sticking out from under his bed and Yixing prays to Jesus fucking Christ that his roommate hadn’t been fucking his boyfriend in his room _again_ , and _please don’t be a butt plug, please don’t be a butt plug -_

Yixing pulls out a tissue out of the tissue box to use as a barrier against the incriminating object. Latex gloves would be ideal but he doesn’t have any on hand. He would have to have a very long talk with Minseok or Luhan - seriously, having sex in other peoples’ rooms is extremely unsanitary- Minseok, being a clean freak, should know better than to do that. So much cleaning to do, he would have to wash his bed sheets, mop the floors -

Yixing tries to pick the tail thing up and the thing _screeches._ Loudly. The tail thing disappears under his bed. Yixing yelps in surprise. 

Okay, never mind, no butt plug. There was a live animal under his bed. Yixing takes a deep breath and plops down on the chair next to his desk with shaky legs.

What if the thing scratches him? What if it bites him? What if it does both? What if the thing turns out to be some rabid dog and it bites Yixing during the night, but then he doesn’t notice until he gets rabies that spreads to his brain which means he’s absolutely fucked because you can’t cure rabies once it spreads to the brain and it’s symptomless unless it spreads to the brain which also means that Yixing’s sure as hell going to die foaming at his mouth and freaking the fuck out, all because of some dog in his room-

A meow resonates through the room. Yixing almost screams. The rabid dog was going to kill him and he’s going to die and he didn’t even get to confess to the cute guy with the pretty cat-like smile in his music theory class who probably doesn’t even know of Yixing’s existence, which is a total shame except Yixing didn’t know the guy’s name either, but that all doesn’t matter because he’s going to die because of some wild animal. Yixing’s hyperventilating at this point but it doesn’t matter because he’s going to _die._

A bell jingles and the fluffy thing crawls out from underneath Yixing’s bed. It shakes itself and stares at Yixing.

“Mrowl-rowl?”

Yixing blinks.

Oh, he’s an idiot. It was just someone’s house cat, not even a stray. The cat had a pastel blue collar on with a tiny bell.

“Come here, cat,” Yixing says, patting his lap. The cat seemed to ignore him. Of course.

“What are you doing here? You want scratches? Come here!” 

The cat continues to stare at Yixing, unmoving.

Yixing groans. Of course it wouldn’t listen. It was a cat after all, cats don’t speak Korean, Chinese, or French for that matter. Yixing decides to leave the cat to do it’s own bidding as he turns his chair to face his desk and pulls out his notebooks. The cat can probably figure itself out and not die.

Less than thirty minutes later, Yixing hears the soft tinkling of a bell and turns to see the cat scamper out of his open window. Oh, he left the window open. That explains how the cat got in. 

“Bye Cat! “ Yixing waves, “Stay safe, cat!” 

The cat meows before running off into the distance.

**/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\**

“A cat visited me today” Yixing tells Luhan as they eat dinner together

“Minnie?”

“No, I meant an actual furry, four-legged, cat”

Luhan chews on his lip thoughtfully. “Was it a stray then?”

“I don’t think so, it looked well maintained and had a collar”

“Do you think someone lost their cat?”

“I’m not sure, I haven’t heard anything and the cat seemed to know where to go when it left”

“Well, I can keep my eyes peeled for missing cat posters?”

Yixing makes a face at Luhan “Why are you peeling your eyeballs? That’s going to hurt”

Luhan sighs, “It’s an expression Xingie, it means I’ll be looking for missing cat posters attentively”

“Ah” 

“Thank you for the meal” Luhan murmurs absentmindedly before digging into his meal. Yixing echoes after him and starts eating as well. The apartment was silent except for the occasional sounds of chopsticks scraping at a plate.

“Luhan do you hear that noise?”

“Mmm?” Luhan murmured, more preoccupied with his meal than anything else around him.

“That weird click-clack coming from my room.” Yixing looks at Luhan, dead serious. “Han I think there is a ghost in my room.”

“Oh for goodness sake Yixing, it’s probably just the wind. Did you leave your window open again?”

“Uh,”

Before Yixing could answer, soft jingling of a bell could be heard followed by light footsteps. Something warm was on Yixing’s feet. Yixing looked down at his feet.

“Oh, uh, hi cat”

Luhan looks under the table and his eyes widen. The cat meows.

“It’s a cat,” Luhan says, after a minute of silence.

“Yes Luhan, I already said that. This is cat”

The cat meows and places both paws on Yixing’s leg, stretching. Yixing coos. “Aww, good cat. Why are you here, cat? Do you want food, cat?”

The cat headbutts Yixing and then Luhan. 

“I think that’s a yes, I will get some chicken or something” Yixing gets up and heads to the kitchen

“Errm, Hi cat” Luhan finally says, albeit a bit awkwardly. “How are you doing?”

The cat doesn’t answer but it jumps on the table beside Luhan. 

“Yes, uh hello cat”

The cat blinks at Luhan. Luhan tentatively reaches out to the cat. The cat leans his head onto Luhan’s hand and purrs. 

“Yixing!” Luhan exclaims excitedly, “Look! Such a good kitty! And it likes pats! Such soft fur!”

Yixing walks back in with a can of tuna. “Oh, you’ve made friends with the cat.”

“It’s a cat” 

“Yes, I think you’ve said that already,” Yixing says gently. “I know it’s a cat.” Yixing places down the can of tuna on the table. The cat scampers towards the can and give it a good sniff before sitting down and digging in.

“Is this the cat that visited you earlier?”

“Mmhmm” 

“It’s a cute cat”

The edges of Yixing’s mouth quirk up. “Yes he’s very cute. And fluffy.” The cat looks up as if it understood they were talking about it and meows. “It seems to be well trained too!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s someone’s house cat then. Stray cats aren’t this friendly.”

“That was because you tried to assert dominance over that poor cat.” Yixing lifts his eyebrow accusingly. “You stared the poor thing down, T-posed on him on _his own territory_ , of course he’d hiss and attack you.” 

Luhan sputters, eyes widening “Zhang Yixing that was once! And I did not T-pose on the cat I was just stretching!”

Yixing rolls his eyes, turning towards the cat and patting him gently. “Sure, sure, Luhan. Tell that to Minseok. He still has pictures of you traumatizing the poor cat.”

“Fine,” Luhan says, sulking. He really needs to talk to Minseok and maybe bribe him into deleting those pictures somehow. “But that was just once! My point was, this cat’s probably a house cat because it doesn’t mind chilling with humans unlike most stray cats” 

The cat had finished the can of tuna and was now stretching, belly side up in the middle of the dining table. 

“Hmm” Yixing finally gets up from his seat to bring the dishes to the sink. Luhan stands up as well and begins wiping down the table. “I guess we’ll have to peel eyes for people who’ve lost their cat?”

Luhan laughs, tossing the scrunched up tissue he was holding at Yixing. “It’s ‘keep you eyes peeled’ not peeling eyeballs”

“Ah well, you get my point”

Luhan pets the cat instead of answering.

**/ᐠ. ᴗ.ᐟ\**

“Baekhyun did you steal my cat again?” Jongdae storms into Baekhyun’s room, arms crossed, looking extremely terrifying. Well, he was as terrifying as a cute, smiley, human embodiment of sunshine, kitten looking man could be. “This is the third time this week Baekhyun! Could you not cuddle him in the living room like a normal person?”

Baekhyun looks up from his notebook, lifting both hands up in surrender. “I didn’t steal your cat this time, I swear! I haven’t even seen him today” Baekhyun huffs in annoyance. “Plus, why do you always blame me for stealing your cat? It could be Yeollie for all you know!”

“Chanyeol’s allergic to cats” Jongdae deadpans, unimpressed. Baekhyun really needs to try harder with excuse making. “He didn’t come over today either and Sooty was definitely in the house this morning.”

“Look,” Baekhyun says seriously, “I swear on my entire SNSD photocard collection and all my albums that I didn’t not steal Sooty from you today and I have no idea where he went.” Jongdae looks nonplussed. “Daeeee, I swear I didn’t kidnap him! He’s probably in the dishwasher like last time.”

Jongdae stares at Baekhyun, arms crossed, looking very unconvinced. “Baekhyun...”

“I swear I don’t know where Sooty is!!” Baekhyun shrieks, “NO! Don’t tickle me! Jongdae have mercy on me! I can’t die at the tender age of twenty one! I still haven’t gotten into a SNSD fan-sign yet!!”

“Mrowl meow?” Sooty could be heard, trotting in from the living room into Baekhyun’s room, tiny bell jingling. Baekhyun gives Jongdae a “I told you so” look, pouting. Sooty squeezes his head through the crack of Baekhyun’s door and looks at the pair, meowing expectantly.

“Kim Jongdae you owe me three cartons of banana milk and a pizza as compensation from the emotional damage you’ve caused me.” 

“Alright, fine” Jongdae groans as he picks Sooty up. “It’s all my fault that I suspected you, you totally have never stolen Sooty from me before” 

Baekhyun sighs dramatically, leaning back into the chair, and hums. “Cut that sarcastic eye rolling Kim Jongdae. You’re just jealous that Sooty loves me more than you” 

“Am not!” 

Baekhyun laughs as Jongdae storms into his room with his cat on his head.

“Listen up, you fluffy, four-legged, idiotic feline” Jongdae grumbles at Sooty. Sooty, being like any other cat, just ignored his owner in favor of licking his paws and grooming himself. “Where have you been? I swear I searched all over the house for you! “ Sooty scratches his neck and flops down on Jongdae’s bed, fur flying everywhere. Jongdae groans, shoving his hands into his pockets with a frustrated sigh. It’s a pity that looking like a cat doesn’t entail that you speak cat. 

“Sooty,” Jongdae says seriously, staring the cat down, “I feed you, buy you toys, brush your fur, clean your litter box, give you scratches, buy you expensive cat beds but you still choose to sleep in the dishwasher? Hide from me for the majority of the day? What did I ever do to you?”

Of course, like always, Sooty ignores him. Jongdae sighs. Maybe he should feed Sooty some of that duck pâté cat food he liked. Jongdae shuffles to the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets for Sooty’ favorite type of canned food. Jongdae cracks the can open and taps a spoon on the edge of the can. At the sound of the can opening, Sooty dashes into the kitchen, meowing excitedly. Jongdae puts Sooty’ food bowl down, watching as Sooty sniffs his food and… Sooty shakes his head and walks out of the kitchen, leaving Jongdae to gape at him. 

“Yah! Sooty! What’s up with you today? This is your favorite food!” 

Sooty doesn’t answer and strolls back into Jongdae’s room. Jongdae frowns. It’s very unlike Sooty to not eat his favorite cat food. Sooty loves to eat and it’s quite alarming that he’s not eating anything. Maybe he’s sick? Jongdae follows Sooty back into his room.

“Sooty~ why won’t you let me love you? Please don’t leave meeee!” Jongdae sings dramatically, picking up a rather miffed Sooty and squishing the poor kitty. Jongdae suddenly gasps, holding Sooty out in front of him.

“You’ve been cheating on me!” Jongdae shouts at Sooty accusingly, sniffing Sooty’ tiny head. “I never gave you any tuna today! Is this why you wouldn’t eat your duck paste? Because you’ve found a better owner than me? Who feeds you better than I do? Kim Sooty I am thoroughly disappointed and heartbroken by your actions today and I hope next time you do not break your father’s heart like this or you’ll be very, _very_ , sorry.”

Sooty meows not at all apologetically, in Jongdae’s opinion, and shoves a paw into Jongdae’s face. Aish, this kid needs better manners. Jongdae pouts. 

“I knew you were trouble when you walked in~”

Sooty wiggles in Jongdae’s grasp.

“Our last goodbye~” 

Sooty doesn’t look particularly amused at Jongdae’s antics.

“Will be beautiful~!” Jongdae lifts Sooty up above his head swinging him back and forth gently. Sooty squirms, trying his best to twist himself out of Jongdae’s tight grasp.

“Just smile a LITTLE LONGER UNTIL THEN-- OW! Fuck! Sooty!” 

“For fucks sake Kim Jongdae, will you shut the fuck up” 

“I can’t, Byun Baekhyun, I shan’t.” Jongdae sighs and rolls his eyes dramatically. “I am completely and utterly heartbroken because my dear son, my flesh and blood, has betrayed me! He’s cheating on me with another woman or man or whatever! I am deeply hurt and I will never be the same again. Ah! Woe is me!”

Baekhyun’s head pops in from Jongdae’s doorway. 

“Your son is cheating on you? Does that mean you were dating him? Ignoring the part that dating your cat son makes you a furry, isn’t it kind of incest as well? I didn’t know you were into that” Baekhyun’s eyebrows shoot up suggestively.

Jongdae scowls. “Byun, you have exactly three seconds to get your ass out of my room.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but steps out of Jongdae’s door frame anyway. 

“Please Jongdae, you’re as scary as a teacup rabbit.”

“Weren’t you the one begging me for mercy, and I quote, ‘Jongdae have mercy on me! I can’t die at the tender age of twenty one!’”

“No idea what you’re talking about, I think the cat hair is getting to you my friend.” With that, Baekhyun skips out of Jongdae’s room, humming a girl group song.

Jongdae sighs, flopping onto his bed with a groan. What a day.

**/ᐠ.ꞈ.ᐟ\**

Yixing wakes up at noon on a fine Sunday to a beautiful breeze coming in through his open window, birds chirping, thankfully no robbers, and oh! Cat!

“Hello Cat, you look great today, like always” Yixing praises the cat and stretches. The cat follows suit and stretches itself, purring happily. 

“Look at that balance! Woah!” Yixing praises in awe. The cat meows back, looking very satisfied with himself. Yixing coos.

The cat had become a pretty regular fixture in Yixing’s and Luhan’s dorm over the last two weeks. The cat had been popping in through Yixing’s window just before noon, usually sunbathing on a bed or just wandering around until Yixing comes home to make himself, and now the cat as well, lunch. The cat just chills around the apartment after Yixing leaves, doing God knows what before heading out just after dinner, everyday and any day for the past two weeks. Yixing sometimes doesn’t head home for lunch and he doesn’t know what the cat does if he doesn’t, but the cat doesn’t seem to be particularly bothered about it. 

“Today is Sunday?” Yixing hums to himself, absentmindedly stroking the cat’s fur. “That means it’s laundry and grocery day. Is it my week to get the groceries, or is it my week to do the laundry?” Yixing stares at the cat as if the cat had all the answers written on its face. The cat just yawns, not providing a whole lot of help.

“I think it’s my week to get the groceries.” Yixing murmurs finally, getting up to change into something more appropriate than just his boxers and a raggedy t-shirt. “Can you stay here and behave, cat?”

The cat says nothing, too busy wrestling Yixing’s bedsheets and stomping on them. 

Yixing tucks his shirt into his pants and tightens his belt, turning around to see the cat wrapped in a cocoon of Yixing’s blankets and bed sheets, his bed looking like a hot mess, but the cat looking very pleased with itself. Yixing tsks, shaking his head at the cat.

“I would get mad at you but I was going to change my bed sheets today, anyway.” Yixing pats the cat who makes a startled cat noise. 

“I’m going to leave you in my room then, don’t make a mess!” Yixing pauses and frowns, scanning his room. “Don’t make it more of a mess than it is right now.” He glances at the cat, who was already curled up, head on hind leg, and fast asleep. Yixing smiles fondly and walks out of his room.

“Morning Lu-ge” Yixing greets Luhan, who was sitting at the dining room table, practically inhaling his cup of coffee. “I’m going out to get groceries, anything specific you want?”

“Morning Xing! We’re fresh out of coffee creamer, but other than that we can just get what we usually get and what’s on sale. Do you want some toast? Some coffee?” Luhan says cheerily, waving a piece of toast at Yixing. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

“Ah, I was going to go out to get something to eat. The ahjumma the street over that sells hotteok apparently decided to start making _jianbing guozi_ and according to Taozi, it’s the most authentic one he’s had in Korea. I was going to buy some from her and grab a cup of soy milk as well.”

“Ah, really?” Toast crumbs fall out of Luhan’s mouth. “That sounds amazing, have fun then!” Luhan shoves more toast into his mouth. “Get me some unsweetened soy milk?” More toast crumbs fly out of his mouth.

Yixing laughs. “Of course, of course, now finish you toast and remember to sweep the floor.” Yixing toes on his shoes and heads out the door, laughing harder when he hears Luhan’s grumbles as he shuffles out of the kitchen to grab a broom. 

Yixing takes in a deep breath of the crisp air and practically _leaps_ to the supermarket. May is definitely his favourite month. There’s far less rain compared to April, the plants are flourishing, baby bunnies sleeping snugly in their dens (which is the cutest thing ever, Yixing cries every time he sees a baby bunny), the weather is bright, warm, and sunny - what’s not to love? Unless you’re Luhan and you’re allergic to pollen. Yixing feels a little bad for Luhan, whose eyeballs swell up and his face turns into a snotty mess if he stays too long outside. He’d feel a little more sorry if Luhan didn’t have a loving boyfriend that coddled and doted on him everytime he had even a mild allergic reaction. Yixing’s definitely not lonely, painfully single, and jealous of their relationship. 

“Good Morning Mrs. Jang! I heard that you’ve taken on making _jianbing guozi_ ! My friends all claim it’s delicious and to die for so I’m here to try some today! And I bet it is delicious because anything you make is absolutely amazing!” Yixing smiles and waves at the owner of his favorite hotteok stand cheerily, dimple showing. 

“You flatter me, Yixing-ah” Mrs. Jang chuckles heartily, wiping down her griddle to start making a _jianbing_ for Yixing. She ladles some batter on her pan and cracks an egg on it. “Is there anything you want other than _jianbing?_ ”

“Just two large soy milks, one without sugar, and one with half the sugar.”

Mrs. Jang nods. “That sounds good. Say, Yixing-ah, how has school been? Are you really busy these days? I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“School has been alright, ahjumma. We have our finals soon so it’s been more busy so I haven’t had a lot of free time. I really missed your hotteok, they always cheer me up” Yixing pouts, bottom lip jutting out cutely. “There’s been a cat that’s visiting me, but nothing cheers me up like your hotteok”

“Always such a sweet talker,“ Mrs. Jang smiles as she puts the final touches on Yixing’s order. “I just made some cinnamon hotteok a little bit ago, take two, it’s on the house. Good luck with your exams and finals!” Mrs. Jang slides Yixing’s order to him. “850.00 won”

“Thank you, you really didn’t have to” Yixing slides some bills to Mrs. Jang.

“Nonsense, you have to eat well to do well in school.” Mrs. Jang pats Yixing’s shoulders. “Oh right, you mentioned a cat visiting you, is it your friend's cat?”

“Actually, I have no idea who’s cat it is, it’s just been visiting me everyday for the last two weeks. It’s definitely a house cat but Luhan and I haven’t seen any missing cat posters.”

Mrs. Jang tilts her head to think. “If it’s a long haired grey ragdoll, I’ve seen one walking down this street around noon almost everyday towards the east. You live further eastright? It might be that cat. I’ve seen that cat run out of those buildings there” Mrs. Jang gestures to a row of condos left of her. 

“Oh, really? If it has a blue collar I think it’s the cat that’s been visiting me. I know someone who lives there so maybe I’ll ask him. Thank you ahjumma! I’ve got to run along to get groceries now, but it was nice talking to you again!”

“Of course, of course! Remember to stay safe! Say hi to Luhan for me!” Mrs. Jang waves Yixing goodbye with a smile.

Yixing hurries into the supermarket as he shoves a _jianbing guozi_ in his mouth. Oh, yeah, Taozi wasn’t lying when he said it was the best _jianbing_ ever in Korea. Yixing felt like he was instantly teleported back to Changsha. It was just so good. Mrs. Jang always made the street food. 

Yixing grabs a shopping cart and throws a bag of potatoes into the cart. Potatoes are very versatile and cheap. Definitely a staple food for broke university students like himself and Luhan.

Yixing strolls down the aisles, humming to himself and picking up some items here and there. Should he get ice cream? Yes, it’s Häagen-Dazs and on sale, he definitely should splurge. What did Luhan say to buy? Coffee creamer? Yixing looks around frantically for coffee creamer. Oh, there it is. He should grab some milk as well. Is he missing something? Yixing hums thoughtfully. He should really pick up the habit of writing shopping lists like Minseok, but somehow that habit only rubbed off on Luhan, not himself. A pity really, it would probably save him a lot of time in times like now, where he has no idea what else he needs to get.

Yixing wanders around the aisles, finally stopping at a bright red and yellow sign on top of the pet section of the supermarket. 

A sale on cat food? Yixing should probably pick some cat food up. It’s a pretty good deal; 40% off on all varieties of canned cat food. Yixing checks the expiry date. Not expiring anytime soon, that’s good. Yixing picks up an entire cardboard box of cat food. And since he’s already in the pet care aisle, why not grab some toys? Catnip? Pet food containers? Yixing grabs a few random objects off the wall and puts them into his shopping cart before finally rolling himself to checkout.

The cashier takes one look at Yixing’s shopping cart and laughs.

“That’s a lot of cat food! How many cats do you have at home?”

Yixing blinks at the cashier, Yerim, the nametag read, as he tries to process the questions he was just asked.

“Sorry?”

“Do you have a lot of cats? You bought a lot of canned cat food so I was curious. I have three cats at home.”

“Oh, um I don’t have a cat,”

The cashier looks visibly surprised, but doesn’t comment further. Awkward silence ensues and Yixing shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cute guy from his music theory chatting up a storm with someone beside him. Yixing stares at the cute guy. Cute guy stared back! Yixing internally panics.

“That’ll be 27 thousand won, sir” The cashier says finally. “Would you like a receipt?”

“Ah yes please, give me a second-” Yixing tears his eyes away from the cute guy and promptly drops his wallet, coins clinking everywhere. “Umm, give me another second? Uh, here you go.”

Before the cashier could give him a proper thank you, or a come back soon please, Yixing was already running out the door with his grocery bags, in a mad dash like he was rushing to get on a train he was going to be late for. 

“I’m Stupid!! Stupid!! Stupid!!” Yixing hisses to himself groaning. He could’ve smiled or winked at the guy, he could’ve walked over and said hello but no, he had to freak out and run out of the store like he saw a swarm of pigeons riding on mutated chickens. He’d been crushing on this guy since the beginning of the school year and he’s still tongue tied, confused, and he literally only knows the guy’s name. 

“Hey!! Xing! Is that you? I haven’t seen you in a while!”

Yixing stops running and turns to see Byun Baekhyun from his vocal composition class last semester, waving at him cheerily, holding a tray of three cups of coffee in the other hand.

“Oh! Hello Baek! How are you? What are you doing here? How is your boyfriend? How are your finals coming along? Did you eat well?”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at the onslaught of questions. “Why do you have to bring up finals on such a fine Sunday? To answer your questions, I’m doing fine considering it’s almost exams. Yeollie went to get groceries with my roommate so I’m here guarding their bags and stuff.” Baekhyun gestures to the three bags and a guitar case on the bench beside him and huffs. “I’m pretty sure it’s because Jongdae doesn’t trust me to do grocery shopping though, which is totally unfair. Yeol is doing fine, he’s teaching some kids guitar in his spare time and that’s going pretty well. I missed you Xing, we should hang out. Yeollie, Jongdae and I are going to get brunch at this cafe, I’m sure they won’t mind you tagging along. Yeol says he misses you and I’ve been meaning to introduce you to my new roommate”

“Oh, I’d love to but, I kinda have to go home and feed my adopted cat son? Like, the cat isn’t actually my cat but he’s kind of half my cat at this point, and he has great balance so that’s a plus. I don’t know who’s cat it is but anyway I have to go home and feed the cat” Yixing rambles on, gesturing at the carton of cat food cans he was holding. Baekhyun gives him an odd look but Yixing pays that no mind. 

“Huh, well I guess I’ll let you go then, but we should still meet up sometime.” 

“Ah! Yes, of course! I missed you guys lots!” Yixing pats Baekhyun on the head. “I also missed terrorizing Chanyeol but don’t tell him that.” Yixing winks and waves Baekhyun goodbye.

“Oh no, I’ll definitely tell him you said that! Bye Xing!!”

“Bye Baekie!” 

Yixing runs off, back to his apartment hurriedly with two goals in mind. Eat ice cream (with Luhan obviously, he’s a good roomie) and feed Cat. He definitely forgot to do something though-

Oh, right, he forgot to ask Baekhyun about any cats living in his building.

God damn it.

**/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\**

Two weeks later it becomes pretty apparent to Yixing that the cat had somehow become an integral part of his life and was slowly making itself home in Yixing’s apartment. It becomes even more apparent to Yixing as he cancels another yet hangout plan with his friends because he had to take care of Cat. 

“I’m sorry Junmyeon, I was going to walk the cat then wash it and give it a nice blow dry after. It’s fur was getting kind of matted. I also need to pick up more toys for it. There’s also no more catnip. Tell Yifan I’m really sorry and I swear I’m not avoiding him.”

“Oh, okay sure? Are you sure you didn’t buy a cat? You know we won’t judge you for buying, even though it is better to adopt, Fan and I understand if you purchased one -”

“No! I swear I don’t know the cat. It’s just my friend? It just visits me.” Yixing could hear Junmyeon chuckling.

“Okay Xingie, well, take care then. I guess I’ll see you later?”

And another…

“Yixing! Do you want to get lunch with The Boys? Like you know, _The Boys?_ Yifan, Luhan, and I?”

“Oh that sounds cool, what time are you thinking of?”

“Like tomorrow? 12:30?”

“Oh,” Yixing pauses. “I can’t make it, sorry” 

“Ahhh, what? Really? But you said you were free earlier this week?” Yixing could almost see Tao pouting.

“I did? I don’t remember. I have to go home and feed Cat at 11:00, clean their litter box, take them on a walk, and brush their fur or they get cranky. After that I have to teach at the dance studio later”

“Aww, okay, I guess we’ll see you later. But Yixinggggg~” Tao whines dramatically. “Why didn’t you tell me you got a cat? What type of friend are you? You know I _love_ cats. How could you not let me pet the cat? And Lu-ge as well? The _Betrayal!_ ”

“Oh it’s not actually my cat though? It just visits?”

There was a slight pause.

“O-okay Yixing, I’m not mad about the cat I swear-”

“But I’m not lying?”

“No, no, hush. It’s okay, I’ll see the cat when you want to show me. Anyway I gotta dash. See ya bro!”

“Uh, bye?” 

The line goes dead.

Apparently, Yixing had been being so “antisocial” that it had reached the ears of none other than Mr. Byun Baekhyun who decided that it was now his life mission to get Yixing out and about again. 

“Shush Yixing, no buts. You owe me a brunch date, I’ve yet to tour your new apartment, I still need to introduce you to my roommate, and Chanyeol’s sad because he hasn’t seen you in a while. We’re hitting four birds with one stone, Xing!”

“But, Baekhyun-”

“No but Baekhyuns!”

“Baekhyun-”

“No whining, no complaining. Yeol’s coming to pick you up at 11:00am” 

“I’m not whining, I just want to know why you’re so hell bent on me meeting your room-”

“No whining, no complaining, no questioning! This is all part of my genius plan!”

“But Baek-”

“No whining !” 

Yixing rolls his eyes at his phone. Stupid, stubborn Baek. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop whining. I’ll even clean my house for you guys. Happy?”

“Yes, very.”

“You’re definitely trying to set me up with your roommate though.”

“Mmmmh, I never said that.”

“Well I know that’s what you’re trying to do.”

“Mmmh, am I really?”

“Baekhyun I’m not that lonely”

Yixing could practically hear Baekhyun pout. “I know, I know, fine. Just a friendly meet-up to introduce you guys, okay?”

Yixing sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll see you later then. Bye!”

“Yep, Tomorrow! Be there or be square!”

Yixing ends the call and leans back onto the couch deep in thought. The apartment wasn’t too messy because a terror named Minseok had whizzed by the other day and cleaned almost everything in sight so there wasn’t much left to be cleaned, maybe the floors needed to be sweeped again? 

Yixing scratched his chin. He should probably shoot a text over to Luhan telling him Baekhyun, his roommate, and Chanyeol were visiting. But then Luhan might do something super embarrassing like hang up all of Yixing’s baby pictures. But then again, that’s probably better than them accidentally barging on Luhan strolling around the apartment shirtless and screeching the chorus of Lu as loud as he could without getting noise complaints. 

Yixing groggily sits up and reaches for his phone to send Luhan a text. The windows in his room rattle a bit. Moments later, a fluffy grey cat strolled into the living room as if they owned the place.

“Oh, hey cat.” Yixing pats the cat absentmindedly. “I’m having guests over at this time tomorrow, so if you want to visit, you’ll have to behave.”

The cat doesn’t respond and decides to stroll around the kitchen instead, cat hair flying everywhere.

Yixing sighs and shoots the cat a wary look. The cat pays no mind, plopping down to scratch its neck, sending a poof of cat hair into the air. 

Yixing sighs again before getting up to look for a brush and a broom. 

Cleaning. Fun.

**/ᐠ. ᴗ.ᐟ\**

“So. Byun Baekhyun.” 

Baekhyun pretends not to hear Jongdae and rolls over to face the inside of the couch.

“Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun still doesn’t respond. Instead, he starts staring at the seams of the pillow he was clutching in intrigue as if the pillow held the meaning of life.

Jongdae fumed, snatching the pillow out of Baekhyun’s grasp.

“Hey!!” Baekhyun shrieks, arms crossed. “Rude!”

“I don’t care! Not unless you explain to me what the hell this is” Jongdae waves a piece of paper covered in Baekhyun’s chicken scratches in Baekhyun’s face.

“Oops. You weren’t supposed to find that yet.”

“You set me up on a date with your friend-” Jongdae glances at the paper scathingly. “Xicing? God you have bad handwriting - without asking or consulting me for lunch _tomorrow._ That’s less than 15 hours away from now but I found out _too early_?”

“Hey!” Baekhyun rolls himself over and sits up to face Jongdae. “First of all, I never said I was setting you up on a date-”

“Shut up! We all know you love to play cupid.”

“Yes, but no. I only play cupid with people I think are a good match”

“And do you think I’m a good match for your friend?”

“Yes, but that’s irrelevant. I was meaning to introduce you guys for the longest time anyway.” Baekhyun pauses a bit. “As friends.”

Jongdae huffs, not convinced.

Baekhyun sighs. “I’m serious. He’s a good friend of mine and I’ve been worried about him recently because according to all our friends he’s decided to be a social recluse because he adopted a cat or something. I’ve talked about him numerous times before - he’s the guy that was scared of pigeons and ate grass at the petting zoo with the sheep - and I’ve definitely told you multiple times that I should introduce you two. I thought you two could be cat owner buddies and you can teach him how not to be antisocial over having a pet cat and talk about cat owner things”

Jongdae plops himself on the space on the couch beside Baekhyun. “But why not tell me earlier? If you explained, I would’ve easily agreed and not freak out.”

Baekhyun pouts. “It’s not my fault you’re dramatic”

Jongdae’s eyes widen incredulously. “Me? Dramatic? I swear I was having an appropriate response to ‘Hey Dae! U have hot date for lunch tmmr with my good friend yixing!! Dress smexy lol! If u don’t come i will hide ur cat!! xoxo ur lovely roomie baek’” Jongdae shakes the letter and a couple of glitters fall off the sheet. 

“I’m not lying when I said he’s hot though.”

Jongdae groans and swatts Baekhyun on the arm. “That’s beyond the point”

“You know I’m not being serious. Look, just think of this as a favor for me. If it doesn’t work out and you hate that guy, I won’t push you two together again. I just want my best friends to be friends.” Baekhyun gives Jongdae his best pleading puppy eyes. 

“Fine, but if he turns out to be an ass-”

“I would never be a friend with an asshole, also it’s partially your fault if you think everyone sucks because you compare everyone you meet with that mystical unicorn of a man you’re so smitten for.”

“Can you blame me? He’s the top of the class for the class I share with him and music composition- which is hard, I’ve had Chanyeol complain to me a lotl, all the teachers love him but despite that, he’s still super sweet and wholesome and despite being super smart he’s not snotty about it helps almost everyone that approaches him? And he’s handsome, can you blame me?” 

“Yep.” Baekhyun makes a popping sound on the ‘p’ and juts out his lower lip.

Jongdae glares at Baekhyun. “I think it’s about time I send Soo all the screencaps I have of you calling him ‘captain egghead” and ‘egghogg’ when he shaved his head.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widen and he gasps dramatically “noooo! Don’t do it! I’ll be nice I swear! It’s just funny how whipped you are for this man you’ve talked less than ten words to-!”

“BAEKHYUN! I swear to go-”

Before Jongdae could pelt Baekhyun with the pillows he was holding, a couple of bell jingles could be heard as Sooty dashed into the living room purring, instantly distracting Jongdae.

“Sir, have you been out this entire evening? I’ll have you know I’m very, very, cross with you.” 

Sooty only meowed.

“Stop meowing, you are in trouble! Stop sneaking out as well! What if you get lost? What if you get fleas? What if you’re abducted? I ought to teach you a lesson.” With that said, Jongdae scooped up his cat and stalked off for his room.

“Remember to wear something nice for tomorrow!” Baekhyun yells from where he was lying on the sofa.

“Shut up Baekhyun.” Pillows were thrown at Baekhyun from a grumbling Jongdae.

Stupid matchmaking, cupid playing roomate.

  
  


**/ᐠ.ꞈ.ᐟ\**

Jongdae woke up to Sooty’s bell clanking loudly by his ear. Petting the cat a few times, Jongdae stretched, rolled out of bed, and opened the window to get some fresh air into his room.

Before he could even blink, Sooty squeezed himself out of the open window and proceeded to jump down the ledges towards the ground. Sooty was running away! Again? Jongdae cursed under his breath, debating if he should chase after his cat. It was still early in the morning and plenty of time before the brunch meetup. After grabbing a sweater and wriggling into his pants, Jongdae ran out of his room, out the front door, to chase after his cat. 

By the time Jongdae was out, Sooty had already jumped onto the sidewalk with a graceful hop and had begun running to whatever location he was so hell bent on getting to. Jongdae managed to catch a glimpse of his bushy tail that disappeared behind the hedges by his building. 

Jongdae followed Sooty as he turned left and right through the streets without hesitation. Suddenly, Sooty stopped dead in his tracks. Jongdae skidded to a halt as well, and watched his cat curiously, which was a mistake on Jongdae’s part because Sooty soon started sprinting at full speed and Jongdae found that he had trouble keeping up with the cat.

Luckily, Jongdae didn’t have to run for long because Sooty turned left into the park and-

Jongdae blinked at the suspicious man wearing a black hoodie who Sooty stopped in front of. He was just about to call out to Sooty when the man reached out, and _grabbed_ Sooty. The man was going to _kidnap_ Sooty! 

“HEY YOU!”

The man ignored him.

“YOU FOOLISH FIEND!! CATNAPPING CRIMINAL!! FELINE SNATCHING THEIF!”

The man looked up at Jongdae and blinked or something. Maybe winked? Or maybe his eye just spazzed out. Jongdae couldn’t tell, the guy's bangs almost completely covered his eyes.

“YES YOU! MENACE TO SOCIETY! GIVE BACK MY CAT! HE’S NEUTERED, YOU CAN’T MAKE CAT BALL SOUP TO CURE INFERTILITY WITH HIM”

The man jumped and dropped the cat as if the cat burned him. Jongdae was just about to sigh in relief, scoop his cat up, and get his ass home when the unthinkable happened.

Sooty, instead of running back to Jongdae like he expected, purred and rubbed his head against the man’s legs then stretched to paw the man’s waist as if asking for the man to lift him up.

Jongdae’s mouth dropped in disbelief. Did he follow the wrong cat? Had Sooty lost it? What was happening? 

“Uh, sorry,” The man said, pulling off his hood and running his hands through his hair. “I think we’ve got a misunderstanding?” 

Jongdae’s mouth dropped open even wider, if that were possible. Mr. Catnapper was the guy in his music theory class! Mr. Menace to Society was the very guy that Jongdae was, in Baekhyun’s words, whipped and smitten for. Jongdae didn’t know what to do with the information, he just stared in shock as the man stared back.

The silence broke when Sooty meowed loudly, fed up with the lack of attention towards him.

“Oh, sorry, uh, let’s sit and you can explain?” Jongdae gestured to the wooden bench not far from where they were standing. 

Mr. Hot Catnapper nodded and followed Jongdae to the bench.

“So.”

“So,” Jongdae echoed

“Uh, so”

“So?”

“Um I’m not trying to steal your cat?”

“Well yes, that I’ve gathered.”

“Um,” The man trails off and starts fidgeting with his hands, “I uh”

“Please, I just want to know why you know my cat and if you’re the person my cat’s been disappearing off to to visit for like the past two months so I can stop panicking and thinking my cat’s been abducted.”

“Oh, yes the cat has been visiting me.” 

“Oh, okay. Uh, what do you do with the cat …?”

The man looks confused. “I feed Cat or play with Cat or Cat just sleeps?”

Jongdae watches Sooty circle around the man, purring and rubbing his head all over the man’s calves. 

“I guess it’s good that Sooty found a friend,” Jongdae finally said. Sooty meowed. “I’m really really sorry about all the trouble though”

“Nah, it’s nothing, he’s a very cute cat.” The man says, patting Sooty fondly. “And uh, by the way, I think I know you? You’re theory with me right? Chen?”

Jongdae flushed a tiny bit “Mmhmm, that’s me. I think you sit a few rows in front of me” Jongdae pretended to pause and think. “Two rows in front of me.”

“Ah, that’s so cool! It’s crazy how your cat managed to find the house of someone in your class to crash at-”

“Sooty goes to your house?” 

Yixing nods. “Yep, usually lounges at my shared apartment for most parts of the day. I think he jumps in through my window. I live on the second floor so I think it’s easy for him to get in.” 

“Oh, I see.” A lightbulb suddenly lights up in Jongdae’s head. “Hey, if my cat likes to visit you often and I can’t seem to deter him from going to your house, maybe we can exchange numbers? You know, so I can keep tabs on where my cat is and pay you back for all the trouble, and if you’d like we can be friends?”

Yixing’s face lights and he smiles, his two gorgeous dimples showing. “That sounds like a great idea, I’d love to be friends! Also, you don’t have to worry about paying me or anything, I had a great time with Cat and it was nothing, really.”

“Oh, okay, you can put your number here,” Jongdae hands Yixing his phone. Yixing hums.

“Here! I texted myself already so you don’t have to worry about giving me your number again.” Yixing handed back Jongdae his phone and winked. Jongdae felt unreasonably flustered and looked down at his phone instead of replying. Zhang Yixing, the contact read, with a little smiley next to it. Jongdae’s phone buzzed with a message notification from Yixing. Yixing peered over Jongdae's screen. 

“Did it work?” 

“Mmhmm” Jongdae showed Yixing the cat meme he just sent. 

Yixing beamed, “That’s good! I’d ask you to get breakfast with me but I already have a lunch date planned, maybe we can arrange something next time? And maybe bring your cat! He’s a nice cat”

Ah, of course someone as popular as Yixing would be constantly busy with dates. 

“No worries! We can set up a time for later. I actually have somewhere to be too, and don’t worry, I can definitely bring Sooty with me!”

“Sounds good, sounds good” Yixing nodded. “I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yep, I’ll see you!” Jongdae stood up and stretched “Now, uh, sorry about everything but can I get my cat back?”

“Uh, sure,” Yixing moved aside so Jongdae could go pick Sooty up.

But Sooty would not bulge from where he was sitting. He was firmly rooted to where he was napping on Yixing’s left shoe.

“Sooty! Come on!” This time, Sooty did stand up, but he still refused to leave Yixing’s side.

“Oh dear,” Yixing said, standing up as well, but Sooty still refused to move “I’m not sure what to do”

“Sooty! We’ve got to go home!” Jongdae tried to pick Sooty up but Sooty only yowled and clung onto Yixing’s legs harder.

“Uh” Yixing tried to walk but Sooty still wouldn’t let go.

“Well then.” Jongdae huffed finally, running his hand through his hair, “I guess if he usually goes to your house at this time, I guess he can run with you, also because he’s so reluctant to go with me” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, doesn’t he usually do that? Plus, you have my number if anything is going on so I’m not too worried.”

“Ah, fair enough, see you later then?”

“Mmhmm! Bye Yixing, Sooty be nice!”

Sooty meowed.

Yixing glanced at his phone. “Oh, yikes I really have to go. Bye sunshine!” With a wave, Yixing was gone, Sooty trailing hot on his heels.

Sunshine, huh.

How cute.

/ᐠ. _ .ᐟ\

“Jongdae! We have to go! Stop smiling dumbly at your phone! We’re late!”

Jongdae rolled his eyes but shut off the screen of his phone. “Yeah, and who’s fault is that?”

Baekhyun groaned. “Whatever, just go meet Chanyeol downstairs. I’ll lock the door.” Something crashed to the floor. Baekhyun curse.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Jongdae slipped on his shoes and wandered off to find Chanyeol. 

“Hey Jongdae!” Chanyeol waved at Jongdae, looking like an overexcited puppy. “Are you excited? We’re going to that really popular cafe Baekhyun has been raving about for the past week. It’s all over instagram or something”

“Yeah, sounds cool” Jongdae replied absentmindedly, eyes glued back onto his screen. “Totally can’t wait to meet this Xiqing guy y’all keep talking about.”

“It’s actually not Xiqing it-”

Chanyeol was interrupted by a huffing and puffing Baekhyun who had pulled open the car door with all his might, almost whacking himself in the face.

“Careful Baek!” Chanyeol pouted, “Are we ready to go pick up Xing?”

“Mmhmm! Let’s go”

“Jongdae?” Chanyeol turned to look at Jongdae. Baekhyun sighed dramatically. 

“Jongdae’s about two million miles away right now. He’s been talking to someone on his phone that’s more important than his dear friends. ” 

“Ah, I see! How exciting! I haven’t seen you this hung up about anyone in a while” Chanyeol laughed.

“Shut up” Jongdae groaned. “I’m not hung up, he’s just a friend. He’s the guy that Sooty keeps disappearing off to find.”

“Ooooh” Baekhyun hums in recognition. “You finally figured it out? Do we know this guy?”

Jongdae shrugged. “Not sure, just met him today. He’s in my music theory class, I’m not sure if you know him”

“Wait” Baekhyun turned his head to face Jongdae, eyes narrowing. “Is it the hot guy you keep talking about that’s so smart and kind and whatever?”

Jongdae’s face turns bright red. “What? Of course not! What are you even talking about?”

“Jongdae, you’re a terrible liar.” Baekhyun tsks, shaking his head. “So, did you figure out his name?”

“What name?”

“The guy you’re crushing on”

“You mean the guy I’m texting?”

“They’re probably the same guy. I told you you’re a bad liar”

“What? I’m not!”

Baekhyun just rolled his eyes and turned back to face the windshield. “Just tell me the guy’s name, I might know him”

“Fine” Jongdae huffed, crossing his arms. “His name’s Zhang Yixing and yes he’s _that guy_ in my theory class. Happy?”

“YOOOO” Chanyeol interrupted, “Yixing? Did you say Yixing? Did you know we’re going to meet- OW! BAEK!”

“He’s Chanyeol’s best bud in composition class.” Baekhyun cuts in while rubbing the part of Chanyeol’s arm he just pinched. “It’s a small world huh.”

“Oh, yeah I guess” Jongdae shrugs and goes back to typing away on his phone, not noticing the looks Baekhyun and Chanyeol where shooting each other.

**Zhang Yixing : )**

Jongdae: So how’s Sooty doing?

Yixing: Ah, Sooty’s just sleeping

Jongdae: Oh that’s good

Jongdae: Ur going out soon, right, if he’s sleeping maybe he’ll be there when u get back

Yixing: Oh

Yixing: Actually

Yixing: My friends just messaged me

Yixing: said that they’re moving the lunch thing to next week 

Yixing: And they’ll just come over to talk today with this guy that’s a frind of theirs

Jongdae: Ah really? So you’re stuck at home now?

Yixing: Well I wouldn’t say stuck

Yixing: I quite enjoy being at home with sooty : ) 

Jongdae: I see i see

Jongdae: Are u excited about meeting the friend of ur friends?

Yixing: Me? No.

Yixing: One of them likes to meddle 

Yixing: He’s probably trying to set me up on a date >:T 

Jongdae: Pfftttttt

Jongdae: Thats funny bc i swear one of my friends does that too

Jongdae: I told u earlier that i had to go somewher for lunch right

Jongdae: Im supposed to meet this guy

Jongdae: He insisted he wasn’t playing cupid but im not convinced

Yixing: Loool

Yixing: So you like guys?

Jongdae: mmhmm

Yixing: Ah cool cool

Yixing: Me too :)

Jongdae: Ah we’ve arrived at the guy’s house

Jongdae: i’ll ttyl !

Jongdae: pls wish me luck i either have awkwardly sit through my friend and his bf suckign face

Jongdae: or awkwardly try to talk to a guy ive never met or both

Yixing: yep yep sending u luck

Yixing: dont die lol 

Jondgae: ty i appreciate

  
  


“Jongdae go fetch him”

“What? I don’t even know this guy?”

“I don’t care. You’ll get to know him soon enough. Go fetch him.”

Jongdae groaned but did as he was told. Quickly running up to the second floor, he checked the doors for the right room number (which wasn’t hard considering there were only two doors) and knocked.

“Be there in a sec!” Called a voice, followed by the jingling noises and meowing from a cat. Right, Jongdae thought to himself, Baekhyun mentioned the guy had a cat. 

The door swung open. 

“Hey Bae- oh what, hi Chen? Is something wrong?”

“Wait Yixing?” Jongdae glanced at the address on his phone and back at Yixing’s door. He definitely got the right address so…

“You’re Jongdae! Baekhyun’s friend?”

“And you’re Xiqing? What?”

“Xiqing? What? I’m not sure where I got that from. I can assure you my name is Yixing.”

“Ah, darn, I blame it on Baekhyun’s chicken scratches, anyway, let’s go, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are waiting on the car.

“They’re waiting on the car?” Yixing’s eyebrows furrowed. “But I just got a message saying that we’re not going out for lunch anymore and that they’ll be up here?”

“What?”

“Yeah, you’re Jongdae right? It says here-” Yixing shoves his phone into Jongdae’s hands. “ Jongdae, Yeol, and I will meet you upstairs. Sorry about the brunch, we’ll go another time.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Yixing do you have a window facing the front lobby?” 

“Yeah, uh this way.” Yixing pushed the door open and gestured towards the window.

Jongdae peered out of the window and … Chanyeol’s car was nowhere in sight.

“Oh shit” Jongdae cursed, dragging Yixing with him and running downstairs to the lobby. “This is so not happening. 

“What’s not happening? Where are we going? What?”

As Jongdae expected, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were nowhere to be found. Jongdae groaned and pulled out his phone to dial Baekhyun.

“BYUN BAEKHYUN”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s obnoxious laughter could be heard through the speakers.

“BAEKHYUN!”

“Gee, Dae, what’s gotten your panties in a twist? I’m doing a favor for you. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your day with your loverboy”

“Loverboy?” Yixing echoed “Wait Baekhyun, I never told you I like Chen?”

“What did you say? Yixing is that you? Hi Yixing! I was talking about Jongdae, not you”

“Jongdae’s the loverboy?” 

“What? I guess?”

“Goodness gracious, what is happening?” Jongdae muttered under his breath.

“What’s happening? I don’t know what’s happening. That’s up for you and your booboo to figure out yourselves. Yeol and I are busy. Bye!” 

The line went dead.

“So, uh?” Jongdae stared at Yixing.

“I’m not sure either. I’m still having a hard time with the fact that the person Baekhyun has tried to set me up with is you.”

“I’m I that terrible?”

“Quite the opposite” Yixing winked

Jongdae gaped at Yixing. “Huh.”

“Did you not catch what I asked Baek?”

“Huh?”

“I asked him, I never told you I like Chen. That’s you, you’re Chen, right?”

“Yes?”

“You’re Chen, and I just told you I like Chen”

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Yixing tilted his head at Jongdae. “Just ‘oh.’ ?”

“Uh it’s a good ‘oh’ ? sorry, sorry, a literal bomb has dropped on me and I’m having a hard time here-”

“Oh, uhhh,” Yixing took a few steps back from Jongdae.

“-because it’s weird that i’ve been trying to stop Baek from setting me up with you when you turned out to be the guy I’ve-”

“Was I being weird? I apologise.” Yixing said, inching back from Jongdae again.

“-had a cr- what? What! No, you’re not being weird? No, you’ve never been an ass to me? Will you just let me finish my sentence? I was going to say, it’s weird you’re the guy that I’ve had a crush on for the last year or so and that Baekhyun decided to set us up together despite him not knowing I like you?”

“Huh?”

“Do you not think it’s interesting that Baekhyun actually has good taste when it comes to matchmaking?”

“What?”

“Yixing. Dude” Jongdae was beyond exasperated. “Am I not making myself clear enough when I said that you’re the guy I had a crush on for a year? Should I have tattooed it onto my forehead - ‘YES YIXING I REALLY LIKE YOU TOO’?”

Yixing blinked. 

“Don’t you dare say ‘what’ again.”

“I swear I wasn’t going to say that! I was going to say, would you like to go sit down somewhere so we can have a nice talk and get to know each other? My roommate’s at home right now and I’m not the most comfortable with you meeting him because he’ll tell you all the embarrassing things I’ve done since second grade or expose me on all the lamenting I’ve done over you.”

“Well, since we were supposed to get brunch before Chanyeol and Baekhyun bailed, let’s go get brunch?”

“That’s a great idea! It’ll be my treat.”

“You don’t have t-”

“I want to.”

“Fine, but the next time we go on a date, I’m paying”

“Woah, woah, it’s a planning on a second date already?” Yixing teased, sliding his hands into Jongdae’s.

“I don’t know, there can’t be a second date when there’s no first date, so is it a date?”

Yixing smiled, the two dimples Jongdae loved so much showing.

“It’s a date then.”

-  
  


-

Find me on twitter! [@lightresoIution](https://twitter.com/lightresoIution)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to apologise for using the very cringey "stonks we both had a crush on each other but didn't know it lol!" troupe. Like I said earlier, I ran out of time writing this, so the ending's quite rushed. Actually, calling it the ending is being generous, the last third was written in a day, so yes, again I am very very sorry.  
> My original intent was for the two of to slowly develop their interest in each other (because Sooty's attachment to Yixing and Sooty keeps on going back to Yixing) but I had to throw that out the window . . . 
> 
> Any feedback is appreciated!


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